News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-29
CHASING THE CARS.
A Product of Railroading by which
Track is Kept of Rolling Stock.

Car chasers are among the most i'm
portant employees of the great trunk
lines of railroads. The title exactly de-
scribes their business. On some rail
roads they are called travelling car
agents. The department head who en-
ploys them is also called variously
the car agent, the car accountant, or the
superintendent of rolling stock. These
officials have as many as dozen assist
ants on some of the great roads, nine OF
ten being clerks at $50 or $40 month,
and the rest being chasers who travel all
over the country on free passes hunting
up missing cars, and who receive $40 or
SlOO month and expenses.
Great railroads have immense num-
bers of cars. The Central Railroad of
New jersey has about 80, 600 of all sorts;
the Pennsylvania Railroad, 10000 OF
10000. These cars are at the present
moment in every State in the Union.
They go wherever the freight with which
they are loaded is billed to, and thus are
scattered from Winnipeg to Mexico and
Los Angeles to Bangor. A most minute
and thorough system, obtaining on all
railroads except the very smallest, re-
cords every movement OF every car.
This system operates at all junction
points, where the agents record the own
ership and number of every car that
passes from their road to a connecting
lines, and Immediately notify the roads
whose cars are thus in motion, as well as
the car accountant of their own road.
These notifications are made by postal
card. In each general Office car account
books are kept, and the movements of
the cOmpany's own cars are recorded
from day to day. Whenever a loaded
car is emptied on II foreign road, that
road uses it to carry load of freight
back in the direction of the road to
which the car belongs. 1t pays at the
rate of seven-eights cent mile for this
use of its neighbours property in this
way, and if it should happen that there
was no freight to be shipped in that di-
rection within reasonably short time,
the empty car is sent along and mileage
is paid on it as if it were laden.
1t is when a number of cars are lost
sight of that a travelling agent is sent
out. Sometimes it happens that the
cars are on little branch roads idle and
overlooked, sometimes they have fallen
into the hands of company that is
short of cars and full of business, and is
using every foreign car 1t can get, and
sometimes other equally simple causes
delay it. If it is in use by company
short of cars, that company pays mile
age on it, until it sometimes happens
that a car is worn out and paid for be
fore it is returned, or else it is never re-
turned at all. If car chaser demands
the return of his company's cars, they
are sent home, but often others are
seized and put to use when his back is
turned and he is travelling elsewhere.
IF n car is smashed up i'll a railroad acct
dent. it is either rebuilt, a new one is
made, or the price of the car is paid to
the owners by the company ON whose
track the smash-up occurred.
Every contingency is provided for in
the system that has grown up among
the great roads. Recently the master
car builders of the country agreed on
set of schedule of prices for every con
ceivable damage to cars, and the result
is going to be that the rolling stock of
ali the roads will grow more and more
uniform in style and quality, since it is
agreed that only seryiceable parts shall
be put on cars that need mending, no
matter how expensive and fanciful those
parts may have been originally.